In this episode of the podcast, Sinead and the Angry Hippie take a look at the contract that the scientific community working in the public sector has with the public, and how climategate has effected this contract. An interesting discussion with both perspectives considered and represented.

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Sinead found this illustration on a blog that really exemplifies the discussion we had on the episode about climategate. Click on the link or the image to see the follow up diagram.

And just because the episode is over, doesn’t mean that the discussion will end. If there are more questions that anyone has along these lines, please let us know so that we can address them in the future.

Once again it is time for another episode of the podcast. Ask Science Dude : Macro v Microevolution! In this episode Sinead looks at macro-evolution and micro-evolution and the differences between them. Also, with an interesting look back at dinosaurs, Sinead covers the evolution of flight.

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A few Links from the Dude

Online exhibit about the evolution of vertebrate flight! Hours and hours of fun, but it won’t make you fly.

Darwin’s finches!

And just because the episode is over, doesn’t mean that the discussion will end. If there are more questions that anyone has along these lines, please let us know so that we can address them in the future.

As Rob and I talk about on the macroevolution podcast, someone asked me why the way to keep champagne bubbly after opening it is to hang a spoon or fork in the bottle (handle down). Forget why. I don’t even know if I believe the if.  I am skeptical of this, but think that keeping your bubbly bubbly is a very important goal indeedy. Soooo… I propose a Science Project. To participate, here’s what you’ll need:

3 bottles of champagne or bubbly wine, 1 die (raid the Monopoly game!), enough room in your fridge for the 3 bottles, and at least one friend.

Your method: On day 1, uncork two of the bottles. You’ll need to take about a glass of champagne out of each bottle. Feel free to drink this, or share with a friend.  Place one of the bottles in the fridge uncorked, and the second in the fridge with a fork or spoon in it. Place the third bottle in the fridge as well, but don’t uncork it. This is your “control” bottle, so it needs to be subjected to the same temperature regime as your two “treatment” bottles. On day 2, number the bottles 1-3. Keep track of which number corresponds to which treatment. With your friend(s) in another room, open the last bottle and remove a glass of champagne from it. Place all three bottles on the table. Stealthily hide the fork in the kitchen sink. You should now have three open bottles, each with a number on them, each with the same amount of bubbly in them, and they should all look exactly the same (except the numbers). Now, have your friend come in and roll the dice. If they roll a 1 or 2, they get to try bottle 1 first. If they roll a 3 or 4, they get to try bottle 2 first, and if they roll a 5 or 6, it’s bottle 3. Well, a small glass anyway. Then they roll again to see which one is next, and finally, they try the last bottle. Then, they tell you which glass was the fizzyest, which was the second fizzyest, and which was the least fizzy.  Record your findings. For each of your testers, you’ll need to write down the fizzyness rank of each of the bottles. If you are very nerdy, record them in a spreadsheet, along with details such as the kind of bubbly you used. Email your data through the Question Bot (Qbot) on this site.  If enough of you participate in this extremely worthwhile experiment, I’ll analyse the results on the podcast, and talk about the science of bubbles, and the science of champagne.

Now excuse me. I have to go buy three bottles of fine vegan champagne and find a few volunteer fizz testers…

After a month off fighting the flu, Sinead is back as is another episode of the podcast. Ask Science Dude : Antibiotic Resistance! In this episode Sinead looks at antibiotic resistance and the way that bacteria react to the chemicals we use on the daily to combat them after receiving a question from a listener…all this after a brief rant on Climategate.
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And just because the episode is over, doesn’t mean that the discussion will end. If there are more questions that anyone has along these lines, please let us know so that we can address them in the future.

Yesterday we posted the study that goes along with this episode on the blog. For those who did not see it, or just who did not grab the Zombie Infection Model, there it is again. It is not necessary for this episode, but it will give you more background on what we are discussing.

So without further ado, we present a special Halloween treat, Ask Science Dude : Zombie Apocalypse! In this episode Sinead looks at epidemiological modeling in terms of projecting infectious diseases through the use of differential equations and a survival guide to the zombie apocalypse.
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And just because the episode is over, doesn’t mean that the discussion will end. If there are more questions that anyone has along these lines, please let us know so that we can address them in the future.

For those of you who listened to the last episode of the show, you heard us mention that the next episode would be covering an explanation of how disease spreads so rapidly and easily in today’s society, through use of a chapter from a book on Infectious Disease Modeling. The chapter is called, When Zombies Attack!: A Mathematical Modelling of an Outbreak of Zombie Infection. And below is a downloadable PDF copy of the chapter so that anyone who wishes can check it out before the episode and follow the conversation a little easier as you listen.

The link to the chapter is here:
Zombie Infection Model

Sinead brings in a fellow expert, Jayna Raghwani to discuss the finer points of the Swine Flu and the behavior of viruses in general. After several delays, the episode was recorded, and after a few more delays, it is now up and running. And just because the episode is over, doesn’t mean that the discussion will end. If there are more questions that anyone has along these lines, please let us know so that we can address them in the future.

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Links from Sinead

• This is a good little synopsis that leads to an (open access) article on reassortment: Analysis: The ‘Genetic Reassortment’ Of Deadly Influenza Resulted In Hybrid Viruses
• Here is a look at how vaccines are made.

Ask Science Dude is mostly a podcast. On this website, you can find audio files of the podcasts, plus (sometimes) a little something I’ve written to go along with them. You can also send questions to Science Dude, which I will do my very best to cover in a podcast, or answer here.

And who, may you ask, is “Science Dude”? My name is Sinead Collins, and I’m a biologist. Here is my professional web page. Specifically, I’m an evolutionary biologist, and I do experiments with microbes. I do basic research about how very large populations of very small things respond to complicated environmental changes over hundreds or thousands of generations. This kind of stuff is relevant in the real world if you care about things such as how microbes might respond to climate change (this is the application that I focus on), or for understanding how environmental antibiotic resistance evolves. Or, if you just look at all the weird stuff out there and wonder how it got that way. Or, if you, like me, have a certain fondness for pond scum and seashore slime.

You might have noticed that Science Dude isn’t exactly apolitical. In addition to being a big nerd, I’m also a feminist, a vegan, and queer…and those are just the polite versions of some of the names people have shouted at me. I check and double-check the actual science for the shows, but I also state my particular stance on things like sexism in science (and everywhere else), the use of animals in research (and everywhere else), and the stupidity of consumer culture and greenwashing (free the peppers!). Needless to say, these bits are my opinions, and don’t reflect those of my employer or funding agency or friends or parents, or anyone who has the dubious pleasure of working with me. Nope. Get informed, think it through, and make your own damn (informed) opinions.

Like Rob over at the Angry Hippie, I think that we all need to get off our asses and think for ourselves, and then use that understanding to change things for the better. Not only that, but I find that the more I understand the world around me, the more I enjoy and value the beauty in it. I want you to get mad over the idiocy and misinformation out there, but I also want you to get fascinated. Science isn’t hard. It isn’t complicated. It isn’t top secret. It does take a lot of specialized training to actually do research, but anyone who is willing to spend a tiny bit of time and brainpower on it can understand the basics. Anyone who can play cards can understand statistics well enough to follow the assumptions made in how a zombie apocalypse would proceed, or alternately, how a flu pandemic happens. Most science is the same: easy to understand if you try, and really really cool, (though you can’t always apply it to the zombie apocalypse). Our world is utterly fascinating, if only we take the time to actually look at it. Science is a lens to look at the natural world through.

So here’s your official invitation: Have a look.

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Hello…

I guess I should say a bit more than that, so here goes. My name is Rob and I go by the handle, the Angry Hippie. I wanted to come by and introduce myself, talk about the show, and my amazing Co-Host and creative mastermind behind this whole dealio. As a kid I was always fascinated with Science, and as I got older the fascination didn’t necessarily fade, as much as it just sort of stifled there with a general lack of an outlet. Then I met Sinead and all of that changed…

After I was doing the podcast for about a year, I was lucky enough to have met a like minded Vegan Freak and we began talking about a possible guest spot on the program so’s I could get a more scientific perspective than my own on a few topics such as evolution and climate change, things like that. Sinead was fantastic and offered up the time to make it happen! I was blown away by how quickly and easily that fascination was re-awakened and I knew that I had happened on a very special opportunity.

I began wondering how many other people out there may have found themselves in the same boat as I was in and would love the opportunity to explore this accessible outlet into the scientific community. Then Sinead mentioned having always wanted to do a show like Ask Science Dude, and that was all I needed to hear. The Dude was on board…and we hit the ground running, never looking back!

I am so proud of the show and how it has grown, and I cannot thank Sinead enough for making it a reality! This site is simply the next stage in the evolution of Science Dude, and I could not be happier to have been a part of it!

Sinead takes time to explain about biofilms after the Angry Hippie discovered a worrisome article online about goo in the ocean off Alaska. After various directions that the discussion leads, Sinead wraps up with a further look at the peer review process for establishing scientific proof. And just because the episode is over, doesn’t mean that the discussion will end. If there are more questions that anyone has along these lines, please let us know so that we can address them in the future.

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Links from Sinead

• biofilm primer!
• psuedomonas!
• quorum sensing!
• myxococcus movies!
• Open access journals!